


I Did Not See That Coming

by TheDumbestAvenger



Series: Whumptober 2020 [17]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Hurt Tony Stark, Kidnapped Peter Parker, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Whump, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Protective Tony Stark, Sad with a Happy Ending, Tony Stark Whump, Whumptober 2020, as in everyone's alive and happy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:33:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27059566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDumbestAvenger/pseuds/TheDumbestAvenger
Summary: When the mission goes south, and Peter is kidnapped right under Tony’s nose, the only thing he has left is hope to someday be reunitedWhumptober ChallengeDay 17 - "I Did Not See That Coming" - Presumed Dead
Relationships: Bruce Banner & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark, May Parker & Peter Parker, May Parker (Spider-Man) & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Pepper Potts & James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Whumptober 2020 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946023
Comments: 10
Kudos: 80
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	I Did Not See That Coming

**Author's Note:**

> Day 17!
> 
> It's a long one, y'all. If I ever get around to writing it, this fic is gonna be the premise for my Comfortember series which is super exciting!
> 
> *Warnings*  
> Blood (Minor) | Mentions of Death | Kidnapping | Serious Injury | Hospital Scenes

The mission wasn’t going well.

Herman Schultz, Shocker, The-Guy-Who-Peter-Webbed-to-a-Bus-and-Sent-to-Prison, whatever you wanted to call him, decided to cause havoc on a quiet Queens evening; Tony and Peter went out to put a stop to it. Naively confident he’d pose a weak threat.

It started okay, the superhero duo came  _ this  _ close to taking Shocker down when he’d hit them with a powerful EMP blast. Not only did it knock out all power within a ten-block radius, but it disabled both of their suits, too. Peter fared better out of the two, using the momentum from his swing to land on the side of an apartment block, but Tony took a five-story shortcut to the ground.

He landed hard, rattling around inside the suit as it bounced and rolled across the tarmac, safe in the knowledge he’d be nursing bruises for days. “Fri?” he called, breathless from shock and trying to piece together why he now lay in a mysterious puddle in the street gutter. Of course, Friday didn’t respond. Looking out of the eye slits, Tony saw Shocker stalking towards him and fumbled for the manual suit releases.

The suit sprung open and Tony shot to his feet, leaping over to the pavement while trying to form a plan.

Peter landed on Shocker’s head; he may be lacking his web-shooters, but still had super-strength. They fell to the floor in a tangle of limbs and, after a short scuffle in which Tony couldn’t quite make out who’s arms were who’s, Peter jumped to his feet and looked down at the unmoving Shocker by his feet.

Satisfied he wasn’t getting up, Peter ran over to Tony, glancing at the still open suit as he passed. “Mister Stark, are you alright?”

Tony wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. “I’ve had worse.”

“That’s not as reassuring as you think.”

“I’m okay, kid. Really.” Tony walked back to his suit and crouched down, his elbows resting on his knees. “I don’t suppose you’re there, Fri?”

After a long pause, Peter answered for her. “I think that might be a ‘no’.”

Tony nodded slowly. “I’m starting to think the same.” He straightened up and turned to Peter. “Is it bad form for a couple of Avengers to call an Uber?”

“Probably,” Peter shrugged, “but I also don’t want to lug that thing back to the compound. ‘Cause we both know who’ll be carrying it.” He muttered the last part.

“What was that?” Tony raised an eyebrow, his head tilted slightly to the side. “I dragged it through the snow in Tennessee once I’ll have you know."

“Yes, I know. We all know.” Peter rolled his eyes as he spoke. “You’ve told that story a thousand times.”

Tony stared at Peter for a long moment. “I’m choosing to ignore that comment. Now,” he held out his hand, palm up. “give me your phone, I’m going to call… Someone.”

“What about your phone?” Peter said, stepping back indignantly.

“Don’t have pockets in the suit, kid. Just hand it ov-AAAA!” One of Shocker’s blasts hit Tony in the side, sending him twenty feet in the air and smacking into the side of an apartment building before falling back to the floor.

Peter lunged after Shocker, but the latter got there first and caught Peter in the chest with an electric bolt, knocking the air from his lungs as he tumbled backwards head over heels. He managed to push himself up to his knees, unaware of Shocker sneaking up behind him.

“Kid, look out!” Tony yelled. Or at least, hoped he did, everything sounded muffled, and the world swam in front of his eyes. He touched a hand to the back of his head, and it came away crimson.

He watched helplessly as Peter turned around, too late to avoid Shocker’s punch that connected with the side of his head. The kid crumpled to the floor, out cold. Tony managed to drag himself up to sit against the side of the apartment block as Shocker paced towards him, a maniacal grin on his face. “Oh, I’m going to have fun doing this, Stark.”

Tony spat out a wad of blood and met Shocker’s eyes with evil intent. “Do your worst.” Shocker raised his gauntlet. Tony prayed for a miracle.

But this was the real world. And in the real world, miracles didn’t happen.

Electricity coursed through Tony’s body, setting off every nerve ending across every inch of his skin. He screamed out the pain through gritted teeth, unable to open his mouth as the electricity tensed his muscles. Shocker didn’t let up. Tony could feel his insides twisting and turning to mush as darkness crept in the edges of his vision. Blood dripped from his nose and ears, pooling with that already staining the ground.

The last thing he remembered before succumbing to the darkness, was Shocker’s crazed laugh.

* * *

Rhodey sat by Tony’s bedside, still in the same uncomfortable armchair he’d left maybe a handful of times since they brought him back to the compound. The chair’s scratchy material almost began to feel normal against his skin.

He’d been monitoring their mission back at the Avengers Facility, trying to convince Tony to accept backup. He’d refused, of course, saying him and the kid had everything under control. When Friday lost connection to both of their suits, Rhodey assembled the team and had them suited in the Quinjet within minutes.

The flight to Queens hadn’t taken long, but the sight that greeted them… Rhodey would never be able to forget it. The first thing he saw - or rather, didn’t see - was the dark patch on the horizon. No streetlights, no glow bleeding out of apartment windows, not even the garish red and blue flicker from a neon sign in a bodega window. Next, he saw Tony’s suit, the front folded open, abandoned in a gutter.

Then his stomach turned over. Tony lay at the bottom of an apartment building in a pool of blood. That blood, too, stained his undershirt and oozed down his face from a gallery of slashes through his skin. Rhodey rushed to his side as soon as the Quinjet door opened, checking over his vitals and shouting orders at the others to get him and the suit safely aboard the jet.

The last thing he only noticed as they carried Tony from the pavement. Tire marks, freshly lain on the road, as if someone made a quick getaway.

That was three days ago.

Bruce popped his head around the door to the medbay, startling Rhodey back to the present, and nodded his head backwards, gesturing for Rhodey to follow him. He stood from the chair, suppressing a groan as his muscles protested from being still for so long - not because he was quickly approaching his mid-fifties, definitely not that - and padded over to Bruce in the doorway.

“Any change?” Bruce asked, his eyes falling sadly on Tony’s prone form. He almost looked peaceful, carefully tucked under a blanket and head resting on only the softest of pillows. But the still healing cuts on his face and splints holding various broken bones still ruined that. Instead, he looked like a man haunted by a past he wished he’d forget.

Rhodey shook his head, arms folded across his chest. “But no news is good news, right?” He spoke in a whisper, as if making too much noise would disturb Tony’s rest. “It means he’s not getting any worse.”

“Shocker really did a number on him. Doctor Cho said it’d take time for him to recover.” Bruce squeezed Rhodey’s forearm sympathetically. He smiled gratefully at the other man, knowing seeing Tony this way hurt Bruce just as much as him. “Besides, he’s finally getting a good night’s sleep.”

“Not even Pepper could manage that,” Rhodey chuckled, dropping his chin to his chest. “You know Tony, he’s a fighter. He’ll pull through.”

A grave expression fell across Bruce’s face, his eyes returning to Tony in the bed. “I don’t want to be the one to tell him the news.”

Rhodey sighed and looked to the floor, leaning against the door frame. “My turn to ask if you have an update.”

Bruce didn’t reply straight away, but eventually spoke up. “Yeah.”

“I’m guessing it’s bad news.”

“Yeah.”

Rhodey raked a hand over his face, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. “How bad?”

Voices sounded from around the corner, too far away to make out but mostly likely Pepper and Morgan coming to visit Tony. “We should talk somewhere else,” Bruce said, turning his head towards the sound.

“Yeah,” Rhodey looked down the corridor as they rounded the corner, nodding a greeting to Pepper. He turned back to Bruce, “Go ahead, I’ll catch up in a minute.” Bruce nodded and left, giving a wave to Pepper and pulling a silly face at Morgan to make her giggle before he headed towards the command center.

Pepper held Morgan on her hip, bouncing her playfully as they walked up to Rhodey. The whole team silently decided that, with her dad laid up in a hospital bed, it was best to stay cheerful around Morgan. They obviously hadn’t told her the full story, just that Tony had been hurt while working and needed to sleep for a while until he felt better - which wasn’t technically a lie.

“Hey there, Squirt,” Rhodey beamed, reaching out to take Morgan. Truth be told, Morgan was such a light in all of their lives that he didn’t have to pretend to be happy. “How was school today?”

“Good!” Morgan squeaked. She proudly held up a piece of paper in front of Rhodey’s face, slightly crinkled from where she’d been holding it. “I drew this for Daddy in art class. It’s all of us together at home!”

Rhodey took the piece in his spare hand and examined it. Himself, Pepper, Tony, Peter, and Morgan stood in the forefront - none of whom were wearing their suits - while in the back, various other Avengers, along with May, Ned, and MJ. At the top, the title ‘My Heroes’ was printed in funky bubble letters, which Morgan had coloured in with a crayon. “Wow, you could be a professional artist someday.”

Morgan giggled, burying her face in Rhodey’s shoulder.

“Sweetie, did you want to go and show Daddy?” Pepper asked. Morgan nodded, and Rhodey set her down, handing her the paper. They watched as she ran up to Tony’s bedside and climbed up on there with him, using the armchair as a makeshift step ladder. She laid down, snuggled up against his chest, and began describing the drawing for him - they’d told her that though he looked asleep, Tony could hear what they were all saying. Pepper turned away first, looking to Rhodey. “How’s he doing?”

“Good, all things considered. Vitals have held steady all day. It’s a really good sign, Cho said.”

Pepper nodded slowly, returning to watch Morgan. “He’s always been too stubborn for his own good.”

“You’re not getting an argument from me.”

Pepper laughed warmly, resting her hand on Rhodey’s arm. “Go, catch up to Bruce. I saw you two talking when we arrived, it looked important.”

“Thanks,” Rhodey smiled. “I’ll be back soon.” He took one last look at Morgan and Tony before heading for the command center.

They called it the command center because it was the main base of operations for monitoring both potential threats and active missions. Since the return of the dusted Avengers, there were more than enough people to have multiple missions running at the same time, so it seemed best to have a central room where everyone and everything could be monitored with ease.

Rhodey paused outside the door, preparing himself for whatever news Bruce had, before walking inside. Seeing the room caused his stomach to turn over. The sense of dread he felt when Friday lost connection to their suits returning tenfold each time he entered. Still, he pushed it down. He had a job to do.

Bruce leaned on the corner of the desk, a dozen holo-screens filling its surface and all showing different information. May sat in the chair, slouched over with her head in her hands and eyes closed. Rhodey shot Bruce a questioning look; Bruce only shook his head.

With a sigh, Rhodey walked up to May and gently rested his hands on her shoulders, startling her awake. “Hey,” he said softly, she turned to face him, “Maybe you should think about heading home. Catch up on some sleep, get a decent meal.”

May shook her head furiously, eyes welling with tears. “I can’t- I can’t leave not knowing.”

“I’ll update you the second we find anything. Happy’s just about to head home, I’m sure he’ll give you a lift.” When May still didn’t move, Rhodey leaned back against the desk, not taking his eyes from hers. “We’ve got people out there searching, there’s not much we can do from here. Peter would want you to look after yourself.”

At the mention of Peter, May looked up. Slowly, she nodded and rose to her feet. “Yeah,” she whispered, “Yeah, he would. See you.” She drifted from the room with barely a backwards glance at either of the occupants.

Once she’d made it a safe distance down the corridor, Bruce spoke up. “I’m worried about her. She’s hardly left this room in days.”

Rhodey nodded, his expression solemn. “I’ve talked to Happy, asked him to keep an eye out for her if we ever managed to get her back home. You know how close they’ve gotten recently.”

Bruce laughed. “I have. And I didn’t see it coming.”

“Neither did the kid,” Rhodey chuckled, alleviating some of the heavy atmosphere shrouding the room. “So,” he stood straight and moved around to face the holo-screens, arms folded protectively across his chest, “What’s the lastest?”

Bruce moved to stand beside Rhodey. Grabbing the projection of a map of the US and enlarging it, pushing the other holograms to the side in the process. On one of which, the same three-second CCTV clip of a white van speeding down the street replayed over and over, Shocker just visible in the driver’s seat. Across the map, a series of dots linked together by a continuous line - all the locations they’d tracked Shocker’s van to, spread wildly and never going in the same direction twice.

“Last we know, Shocker holed up in Denver for a couple of hours. I sent Sam and Steve out as soon as we got a licence plate hit, but he’d vanished by the time they arrived.”

“Vanished?”

“Yeah,” Bruce stepped back, revealing the end of the line just south of Denver on the I-25. “He turned off the Interstate not long after ten this morning, we’ve usually had another hit by now. But this time, nothing.”

“Are you saying we’ve lost him? We’ve lost the kid?”

Bruce nodded, forlorn. He gestured at the hologram, and a circle appeared, centred around Denver and reaching as far as the California border. “They could be anywhere within this area given the time since we lost them.”

“Great!” Rhodey threw his arms in the air, shaking his head. “So we only have to search half of the Western States.”

“And the area get’s bigger the longer they’re missing.”

“You’re not helping.”

“Then I guess I shouldn’t mention the possibility they’ve visited an airport.”

“Can’t do,” Rhodey said quickly, “There’s no way airport security would let a known super-criminal leave the country with a minor he’s not related to.”

Bruce shrugged. “I wouldn’t be so sure. He’s been to a lot of cities, who knows what contacts he has.” Rhodey fell into the chair, rubbing his hands vigorously over his face. “Hey,” Bruce pulled up a second chair and squeezed Rhodey’s shoulder. “Are you alright? Besides the obvious, I mean. You look kinda rough.”

“Thanks, man.”

“I just meant you need to look after yourself, too, as well as everyone else.”

Rhodey smiled warmly, “I know. I am, just a little tired. Not been sleeping well.”

“I can get you something to help with that if you want. Just let me know.”

Rhodey didn’t answer, instead looking up to the map. Specifically, the small triangles that represented the on-mission Avengers’ current locations. He nodded generally towards them. “Who’s out there?”

Bruce pointed to the closest triangle to Denver. “That’s Sam and Steve, still running reconnaissance.” Next, he gestured to one somewhere over Missouri, “Wanda and Vision flew out from Edinburgh this morning - they wanted to help the search - and are headed to Oklahoma City. See if they can find anything there. These other two in Mississippi are Nat and Bucky, and Clint and Scott.”

“And they’re…?”

“Looking for one of Shocker’s known contacts. We think he might have stayed with one of Vulture’s old crew, Phineas Mason. ‘The Tinkerer’-”

“That’s got to be one of the worst nicknames out there.”

“Yeah,” Bruce chuckled, “We’re hoping he might give us something on Shocker. Or… Nat can convince him to give us something.”

“Let’s hope he does.” Rhodey got to his feet. “I’m going to grab a coffee for Pepper, you want anything?”

Bruce shook his head, “Thanks, though.”

“No problem,” Rhodey smiled and left the room, hanging around in the doorway. “You’re doing a good job here, man. We’ll find them.” Bruce nodded once, his expression one of determination, and Rhodey started down the corridor.

He thought as he walked towards the kitchen. With everything going on, he maybe hadn’t been giving himself quite the love he deserved, instead worrying about Tony, or helping Bruce coordinate missions, or babysitting Morgan when Pepper’s meetings dragged late into the night. With a yawn, he considered taking up Bruce’s offer. Imagining the good a decent night’s sleep could do him.

“May?” he asked incredulously, striding over to the breakfast bar where she sat. A cup of coffee cradled between her hands. “I thought you were going home.”

May sighed, looking defeated. Permanent worry lines etched into her forehead, her hair in the same messy bun it had been for days and fingernails bitten to the skin. “I couldn’t do it. Sent Happy without me.”

“I get it,” Rhodey sat on the stool beside her. “When Tony went missing in Afghanistan, I didn’t stop for months. I couldn’t. Because it was my duty to find him.” May nodded absentmindedly. “Finding Peter isn’t your duty; we’re all here for him. All looking-”

“That’s just the thing.” May lifted her head, tears in her eyes. “You’re all out there searching for my kid, and I’m sat here like a piece of furniture.”

Rhodey was taken aback, frowning as she spoke. “May-”

“And I know, I know, I can’t go out there and help. Not in the same way, at least. So it’s all I can do to be here when you get him back.” She dropped her head again, staring at her coffee like it would give her the answer. “That’s all I have.”

“Take my room,” Rhodey offered, “I’ve been sleeping in the medbay, so my bed’s going spare. Plus, no one will disturb you there.

“I couldn’t-”

“I insist.”

After a brief pause, May leant into Rhodey’s side and hugged him. “Thank you.” She got to her feet, still holding the coffee.

“There are spare clothes in the cupboard at the end of the hall. I’m sure you can find some pyjamas in there. Make yourself at home. And I don’t want to see you up before seven tomorrow morning.”

May laughed gently. “Yes, Colonel.” With a mock salute, she left the room. Rhodey stood and grabbed two cups of coffee, plus a juice box from the fridge, and started back to the medbay.

* * *

Tony woke early the next morning, greeted by a relieved Rhodey, tearful Pepper, and Morgan diving into the bed next to him and snuggling up to his chest. The pair soon had to leave for school and work, leaving just Rhodey and Tony alone.

Tony looked up at Rhodey, a dopey grin on his face. “What’s up, Sourpatch? You look like someone sucker-punched you.”

“Look, I’m not going to sugar-coat this-”

“Oh?” Tony’s smile turned to a frown, his lips turned downwards and brow furrowed.

“Shocker, he took Pete. We’ve been tracking him for days, but lost the trail yesterday morning.”

Tony stared at the end of his bed, every muscle in his body tensed and a dangerous expression on his face. Without warning, he sat forward and flung back the duvet, intent of swinging his legs over the edge and standing. “Woah,” Rhodey caught him, stopping his progress. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Finding Pete. What does it look like?”

“So what, you’re just going to search the entire country?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

“No, Tones. You’re nowhere near ready to go out in the field.”

“I don’t care about that,” Tony growled. “That bastard took my kid. And I’m going to find him.” He made another attempt to dodge Rhodey and stand, but in his weakened state, it proved impossible.

Gently, Rhodey pushed Tony’s shoulder back down. “You’re staying in this bed until Cho clears you. Bruce has the whole rest of the team out there, even Wanda and Vision came in. There’s nothing you can add right now. It sucks, but you’ll have to wait.”

Tony laid back. “Sometimes I hate having a voice of reason who’s quite so reasonable.”

“Sometimes I hate having a friend who refuses back up and ends up comatose for days.”

“Hey,” Tony threw his arms out, “You can’t be mean to me, I’m sick! Look,” he held up his hand with an IV and heartbeat monitor attached, “I’m hooked up to all sorts of machines in a hospital bed! Being mean to sick people is a no-no.”

Rhodey threw his head back, laughing his most genuine laugh in days.

* * *

Bruce sprinted into the medbay, skidding to a stop in the doorway and panting hard. A hint of a smile on his face. Rhodey jumped to his feet, Tony sat up straighter, wincing slightly at the pain movement caused.

“Mason talked.”

Tony’s eyebrows shot up, and he cast a confused glance Rhodey’s way. “I thought you said they did find him and came home days ago?”

“Clint and Scott came home,” Bruce corrected, “what with Cassie and all. Nat and Bucky stayed out there. Just commed in to say Mason gave them a potential location on Shocker, some shack he mentioned while running with Vulture. They’re headed there now.”

Tony pushed back his bedsheet back and wobbled to his feet, having hardly stood in the week since the attack.

“Woah!” Rhodey rushed around the bed to steady Tony, only for the man to push him away.

“I’m not a child, Rhodey.”

“You sound a bit like one.”

“Get in your suit, let’s go.” Tony started towards the door.

Bruce blocked his path and looked worriedly to Rhodey over Tony’s shoulder. “Uh, I’m not sure-”

“You aren’t? Well, I am. The suits are quicker than a Quinjet, and Rhodey’s coming because of the insane buddy system you’ve got going.”

“Hey! That buddy system saved your life-”

“It also got my kid captured by a homicidal maniac,” Tony countered, “So move out of my way.”

Bruce’s eyes found Rhodey again, the other man nodded. “Doctor Cho was going to clear him this afternoon anyway. And our suits  _ are  _ quicker. If Mason warned Shocker, he could already be running again.”

“Fine,” Bruce stepped aside and let Tony pass, but caught Rhodey’s arm before he could leave. “I’ll send Friday the location. Keep an eye on him.”

“I know,” Rhodey nodded sincerely before chasing after Tony.

Within a few minutes, they were in the air and hurtling towards south-west Colorado. Most of the flight passed in silence, Tony busy worrying about Peter, and Rhodey busy worrying about Tony.

Their target turned out to be a half-collapsed, wooden shack surrounded by trees with a singular, dusty, dirt road winding away for miles. Shocker’s van lazily parked up by the house. Nothing else within sight. The shack itself looked like a gentle breeze would knock it over, the wooden panels so rotten in places that you could see inside and the door swinging on its hinges.

Tony landed first, Rhodey a second behind him, and marched forward, kicking the door with enough force to level it to the ground. “Schultz!” He bellowed, lighting the room inside with the glow from his palm repulsor, “You’d best hand over my kid else you won’t live to regret it.” He scanned the room, quickly realising it to be empty, and motioned for Rhodey to head for the door to his left while he strode further inside.

Dust filled the air, and covered the floor for that matter, though clearly it had been recently disturbed. A ratty, moth-eaten sofa sat in the centre of the room with a threadbare rug underneath it. Apart from that, the room was empty.

“It’s clear!” Rhodey called from the side room, reappearing through the door.

Tony poked his head through a doorframe, though the door itself was lacking. The metal frame of a bed was shoved up against one wall, a stained duvet balled up atop it. No Shocker. No Peter. “Clear.”

“Tones, I think you should see this.”

Tony tapped his chest, his nano-suit dematerialising as he jogged back to Rhodey. The room he’d cleared turned out to be a bathroom, a grubby sink, toilet, and bath-shower combo taking up practically all of the space. Rhodey stood by the sink, looking down at the grime covered floor.

“What is it?” Tony asked, moving closer. “Oh…” In the dirt, someone had drawn two letters with a slender finger.  _ PP. _

“They were here, and they can’t be long gone,” Rhodey said.

“Then let’s find them.” Tony started back towards the front door and shot into the air, following the dirt path away from the shack with Rhodey close on his heel.

“They didn’t take the van,” Rhodey pointed out. “Could’ve walked, could’ve had a backup car here already.”

“Friday, are any other vehicles registered to Herman Schultz.”

“Only the van, Boss.”

“Shit. CCTV?”

“Not within a ten-mile radius.”

“That’s just great. Rhodey, split up, cover as much ground as possible. They could be anywhere.” The pair peeled apart, eyes scanning the ground for any sign of life.

Despite an increasingly desperate search lasting well into the next morning, Rhodey would reluctantly drag Tony home empty-handed.

* * *

A year passed. Shocker didn’t slip up, never gave away his position, never once asked for ransom money. Slowly, everyone came to the same conclusion. What would Shocker gain from dragging a superpowered kid around the country if he didn’t want money? Nothing was the obvious answer. So everyone, however reluctantly, agreed.

Peter was dead.

So soon after they got him back.

Over the year, the Avengers had chased down every lead, followed up on every clue, acted on even the vaguest of whispers. Even Ross joined the search, every police precinct on the lookout for him. All lead to dead ends. Quite simply, it was over. Shocker had murdered the kid and got away with it.

Tony fed the press a line about Spider-Man joining the Guardians on an outer space mission, which prompted a new line of space-themed Spider-Man toys. It hurt every time he saw one, but sometimes pretending was easier than facing the truth.

May spent more time at the Facility, wanting out of the apartment that only reminded her of her kid. She trained to work with Cho and her medical team, learning the ins and outs of each Avengers medical needs. Even single-handedly saving Steve’s life after a particularly lousy mission and no one else was around. Quickly becoming a valued member of the team. Tony knew what she was doing, making up for losing Peter by saving the others.

The atmosphere at the Facility never quite recovered, it improved, sure. But would never be the same, not with the gaping hole Peter left behind.

“Tony?”

Tony started awake, almost dropping the coffee clutched in his hands. “Oh, Bruce, hey,” he mumbled, trying to regain his composure. “What are you doing up?”

Bruce shrugged, falling heavily into the seat next to Tony. “Couldn’t sleep. You get it.”

Nodding, Tony replied. “Yeah, anniversaries suck, huh?”

“That they do.”

Tony sighed. “After Thanos took them away, I thought we’d never get to see everyone again. The world had already gone to shit by the time Captain Sparkle Hands brought me home, and this time Pete’s gone, and the world doesn’t care. I’m never going to stop looking for him, Bruce. Not until I know either way.”

“Me either. These last few months have felt so… felt so wrong, y’know? Not hearing anything, or having anyone out there looking for Peter. I feel useless.”

“Hey,” Tony turned and clapped his hand on Bruce’s shoulder, “Out of all of us, you’ve probably done the most - and certainly the hardest - work. We’d never have got to that shack without you.”

“Didn’t pan out though, did it. Peter’s not here.”

“We were close, Bruce. So close.”

“I’m not sure if that’s better or worse,” Bruce sighed. A pair of voices drifted towards them, drawing both pairs of quizzical eyes. Rhodey and May walked into the lounge, quietly talking to each other.

“Let me guess, can’t sleep?” Tony asked. Rhodey nodded, a sad smile on his face. “Come,” he gestured to the empty sofa opposite, “join the club.”

They sat together until morning, reminiscing on their time with Peter, telling stories of his heroics - or funny things he’d done - and taking turns brewing another pot of coffee. They laughed, cried, talked, never feeling the need to hide their emotions from each other, just feeling them: the grief, the confusion, the heartache.

_ “Boss,” _ something about Friday’s tone made Tony feel odd, but the word passed so quickly that he couldn’t put his finger on why. Or even what exactly he felt.

“Yeah, Fri?” He asked sleepily - the sun had begun to rise after all.

_ “Peter Parker just walked into the foyer.” _

Everyone froze, sharing looks of utter confusion.

“What?”

_ “Peter Parker just walked into the foyer.” _

Tony jumped to his feet, following May who’d already run from the room. All four of them skidded into the foyer where, sure enough, Peter stood. Blood covering his face and dripping to the tiles below, clothes ripped and covered with dirt, but as soon as he saw them, a smile lit his whole face. “May! Mister Stark!”

May reached him first, wrapping her arms around him with fierce love. Peter clung to her like his life depended on it. He reached out a hand and grabbed the front of Tony’s shirt, pulling him into the embrace. “Get in here, Mister Stark.”

“Oh-” Tony locked his arms around the pair, tears slipping over his cheeks. “Hey, Pete.”

“I missed you guys so much!” Peter said between sobs.

May tightened her grip. “We missed you too.”

“I-I can’t believe you’re here, kid.”

“Me either, it wasn’t easiest to get away.”

Tony pulled away, wiping his tears on the back of his hand, and pressed a kiss to Peter’s forehead. “I love you so much.”

“I love you too.” Peter looked over to Rhodey and Bruce, too. “All of you.”

“Glad you’re back, kid,” Rhodey beamed. “It wasn’t the same without you.”

Bruce stared, wide-eyed, as if trying to figure out whether or not he was dreaming. “What the hell happened to you?”

“Well,” Peter skipped over, the group walking further into the facility. “That’s a long story…

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> Like I said, Comfortember's going to carry on from this fic, except Tony's going to rescue Peter rather than him just turning up so it follows the prompts :D Now that I've said it, I'll have to write it so expect that soon, then hopefully, I can get on with my far-too-long list of wip ideas! (If you want writing updates, my tumblr is thedumbestavenger :D)


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